Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Dimitrov posted a statement with mild criticism of Zoran Zaev and his new positions on Bulgaria. In the statement, Dimitrov said that he expected history to be left to historians and that there should be no questioning of the Macedonian identity and language. In his BGNES interview published yesterday, Zaev conceded to all Bulgarian positions on history and national identity.

The idea of the treaty was to leave history to historians, so that we can deal with the present and the future. To resolve our bilateral disputes bilaterally, without allowing them to obstruct our path toward the EU. The Macedonian language and self-determination, our statehood and identity can’t be obstacles to our integration in a Union that respects cultural and linguistic differences as its foundational value, nor can they be obstacles to true friendship, which is always based on mutual respect. This is my principled position, that this is the fight not only for the Macedonian essence but also for the European values which we can’t back off from, Dimitrov said.